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in Culture

In Hà Nội, a Martial Arts Master Preserves the Century-Old Tradition of Dragon Dancing

In Vietnam, during festive occasions such as Tết Nguyên Đán (Lunar New Year), mesmerizing dragon dance performances serve to eloquently spell the people's aspiration for fortune, abundance, and p...

Khôi Phạm

in Culture

On Delving Into Vietnam's Eras of Tết Firecrackers via My Family History

Is it a valid reverie or just mere misguided nostalgia to feel a sense of yearning for lives you’ve never lived?

in Culture

Xông Đất and the Art of Not Letting Randos Into Your Home on Mùng Một

Tết permeates all areas of life this time of the year, from TV programs to online memes and highly detailed charts, tables, and infographics that guide people to participate in a popular new year acti...

in Culture

In the Year of the Dragon, Confessions of a Supposedly 'Auspicious' Dragon Baby

During high school, I learned that babies born in years of the dragon were thought to be “fortunate” and thus, highly sought-after.

Khôi Phạm

in Food Culture

This Tết, I'm Finally Learning Our Family Recipe for Candied Coconut 'Flowers'

Tết is the perfect occasion of the year to go ham on the sugar.

Paul Christiansen

in Music & Arts

On Warmly Welcoming the Whimsy of Wonky Tết Zodiac Statues

Every Tết arrives accompanied by netizens sharing collections of poorly constructed statues of the year’s zodiac animal. Viewing the online collections with colleagues is one of my favorite holid...

in Culture

When Lịch Bloc Is Gone, What Will Vietnam Use to Keep Discarded Fish Bones?

I have never bought a lịch bloc, or tear-off calendar, for personal use, because every new year, I'm bound to be gifted a brand-new one. In Vietnam, a calendar is often something one purchases as a pr...

Paul Christiansen

in Culture

It's Tết: The Liberating Magic of Using Tết as an Excuse for Everything

I hate excuses.

in Culture

How Choosing My Own Áo Dài Tết Healed My Trauma Over Áo Dài Uniform

High school can be a frustrating time in virtually every culture, as seen from the myriad of coming-of-age movies depicting the range of clichés, stereotypes and expressions of teenage angst we all go...

in Saigon

Portrait of a Jubilant Saigon on the Precipice of Tết in 1992

Tết in 1992 was an especially fortuitous time to be a foreign arrival to Saigon. 

in Music & Arts

New Board Game Set Puts an Aesthetic Feline Touch on Bầu Cua Tôm Cá

In two weeks’ time, we can temporarily put down our laptops, shut away documents, and set up holiday auto-replies to slip into a bánh chưng-induced coma for a week.

in Arts & Culture

Khô Mực Studio Releases Surreal Calendar Featuring Art From 12 Local Artists

For the 2023 calendar, 'Robots vs. Flowers,' twelve young Vietnamese artists were each given a month and tasked with creating an image responding to the question: "Can technology and nature survive to...

in Music & Arts

An Eclectic Collage of Tigers From the Viewpoint of Vietnamese Artists

The Year of the Tiger is officially here. To celebrate the arrival of the third zodiac animal, many Vietnamese artists have contributed to the community project "Behum 2k22." The name is a portmanteau...

in Music & Arts

Designer Lucia Phạm's Animated Video Refreshes Tết Wishes With New Visuals

To Lucia Phạm, a young graphic designer and illustrator, creating a personal project for the Lunar New Year has become an annual tradition. This year, instead of crafting static images, Lucia went all...

in Vietnam

[Photos] A Look Back at Tết in Hanoi 100 Years Ago

It is easy to remark on how drastically Tết has changed over the years, but have the core elements really evolved that much?

Khoi Pham

in Natural Selection

A Eulogy for the Last Wild Cọp of Vietnam

The story of Vietnam and cọp is not one where we will come out looking good.

in Postcards

Saigon Postcard No. 29: Nhâm Dần Limps In

Humans adapted to fields, birds to branches... and yet, in Saigon...

Linh Pham

in Food Culture

For 2 Decades, a Hanoi Family Has Kept the Fire of the Bánh Chưng Pot Burning

Much like the peach blossom or the lucky money envelope, bánh chưng is a staple part of Tết.

in Music & Arts

'54 Shades of Dần,' a Tribute to Tết in Tiger-Themed Playing Cards

Tết is coming, a time of joy, new beginnings and, for some, the ideal time for card games.

in Hanoi

For Hanoi's Đào Vendors, Sleeping in Tents Outside Is Part of the Job

Some kumquat and peach blossom sellers on the streets of Hanoi have resorted to sleeping in tents to guard their trees.

in Snack Attack

What We Talk About When We Talk About Tết Snacks

While Tết is filled with many traditions, perhaps nothing is more central to the holiday than the food that families prepare and share together.

in Vietnam

Sassy Tiger Statues in Bạc Liêu Get Makeover to Be Less Sassy, Turn Sullen Instead

‘Tis the season of peculiar animal statues.

in Hanoi

NPO Keep Hanoi Clean Prepares to Collect Plastic Waste After Kitchen God Day

Keep Hanoi Clean is preparing for its biggest event of the year: cleaning up Lễ cúng Ông Táo, or Kitchen God day.

in Vietnam

Culture Ministry Asks Cities to Cancel Tết Fireworks to Minimize Covid-19 Risks

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has requested relevant provincial and municipal authorities under its jurisdiction to cancel firework displays for the Lunar New Year to avoid a spike in CO...

in Podcast

Saigoneer Podcast: We Rate 2021; Lunar New Year or Gregorian New Year?

A belated Happy (Gregorian) New Year from the Saigoneer Podcast team!

in Podcast

Saigoneer Podcast: 100th Episode Roundtable!

We are 100!

in Culture

For a Tết Full of Rich Traditions, Head to Saigon's Hoa Community

Up until 2011, I thought that everybody in Saigon had the same Tet every year, with apricot flowers in the living room and bánh chưng or bánh tét on the altar, and family trips to the Nguyen Hue flowe...

in Culture

Wander Around a Holiday-Ready Hanoi Amid the Shadows of the Pandemic

Tết has come and gone, but the memories remain.

in Music & Arts

[Illustrations] Tet's Timeless Dishes Turned into a Colorful Cookbook

Tteokbokki, sushi, dim sum, pizza, croissants, burritos: during an average year, many people in Saigon eat dishes from a great variety of global cuisines.

in Music & Arts

Adorable Stop-Motion Video Shows How to Prepare for Tết With Art and Craft

Rarely does preparing a traditional Tết meal put you at risk of papercuts.

in Vietnam

Fireworks Are Allowed Again in Vietnam, Though They Must Be 'Non-Explosive'

Beginning on January 11, 2021, people will be permitted to use certain types of fireworks.

Khôi Phạm

in Culture

These Illustrations of Vintage Trung Thu Lanterns Are a Ticket to Your Childhood

There are many harbingers of mid-autumn in Saigon: the mushrooming of street-side mooncake vendors, the gradual arrival of corporate mooncake boxes, and a kaleidoscopic tapestry of lanterns along...

in Saigon

Saigon Tet Book Festival Rakes in VND3.6bn, 28.5% More Than Last Year

The Book Street Festival was open for Tet from January 22 to 28.

in Culture

On the Cusp of a Modern New Year, Reflections on a Simpler Tết Past

Every year, as the pages from my block calendar peel off, bringing me towards another Vietnamese New Year, my mind once again fills with nostalgia about an old Tết. Tết in my memory begins with my chi...

in Postcards

Saigon Postcard No. 21: The Year of the Rat Wedding

They say it's bad to get married during your year on the Lunar Calendar. 

in Saigon

2,000 Street Cleaners to Work Through Tet to Collect Saigon's Holiday Trash

Many Saigoneers will celebrate Tet by returning home, traveling to an exotic corner of the globe, or simply breathing in enormous lungfuls of the fresh air of a city with millions fewer residents.

in Podcast

Saigoneer Podcast: Tet Food Improvements and Writer Nguyen Phan Que Mai

The latest Saigoneer Podcast episode is available now!

in Food Culture

Step Inside Quốc Hương, the Centuries-Old Store Home of Chả and Bánh Chưng

For around 200 years, Quoc Huong store has been selling sumptuous meat delicacies to hungry Hanoians.

in Saigon

[Photos] A Stroll Along Saigon's Tet Flower Streets in the 1960s

Flowers never go out of fashion.

Khoi Pham

in Culture

[Illustrations] The Mythological Race That Created Vietnam's Zodiac, Retold in Watercolor

After 12 years, Vietnam’s zodiac cycle will once again reset to welcome the Year of the Mouse, the first animal in the dozen.

in Vietnam

Parents Can Be Fined up to VND1m for Taking Children's Lucky Money

Recent information regarding the legality of parents taking their children’s lucky money has received attention in local media.

in Food Culture

As Shortage Continues, Bánh Chưng Makers Start Hoarding Pork for Tet

Vietnam has been suffering from a pork shortage and thus, pork price hike, as the aftermath of the African swine fever outbreak continues to affect farmers.

in Saigon

[Photos] Saigon Unveils Design of Nguyen Hue Flower Street for Year of the Mouse

Lo and behold.

in Culture

[Illustrations] The Tet Board Games That Help Foster (and Destroy) Family Relations

There’s nothing quite as satisfying as beating all your siblings and cousins in a heated game of cờ cá ngựa. 

in Music & Arts

[Illustrations] Rebranding Tết Candied Fruits Using Elements From Vietnamese Mythology

It’s Tet time next week, and you know what that means: heaps of candied fruits, seeds and even vegetables in various shapes and colors.

in Culture

In Chợ Lớn, Leaf-Wrapped Rice Dumplings Abound Every Tết Đoan Ngọ

The fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar is a day of great importance in Chinese communities all over Asia.

Thi Nguyen

in Food Culture

Tết Tales: The Many Folk Stories Behind Vietnam's Sticky Rice Cakes

To me, there's nothing that screams Tet as much as sticky rice cake. However one wants to spice up the usual celebration by replacing some dishes with something new each year, sticky rice cakes remain...

Khoi Pham

in Culture

[Illustrations] How Tet Traditions in Saigon and Hanoi Differ, From Booze to Bánh

How one’s family celebrates Tet can reveal a lot about where they hail from.

Thi Nguyen

in Culture

In Vietnam, Joss Papers Link Life and Death, Modernity and Tradition

Joss papers and effigies consumed my experiences before I began to even question their meaning. On the anniversary of my grandfather’s death (giỗ), my grandmother routinely set up a large pot in ...

in Vietnam

[Video] Rare Footage Documents How Vietnam Celebrated Tet in 1950

In less than two weeks, the Year of the Rooster will be over, making way for the reign of the Dog in the lunar calendar.

Khoi Pham

in Food Culture

A Food Folk Tale: Mai An Tiêm, CEO of Vietnam’s First Watermelon Startup

If you’ve been around a traditional Vietnamese household during Tet, you have probably noticed the presence of gargantuan, child-sized, dark green watermelons on the altar. 

in Culture

At Tết Nguyên Tiêu, a Celebration of the Lunar Year's First Full Moon

Last Saturday, on the first full moon of the first lunar month, members of Saigon’s ethnic Chinese community celebrated Tet Nguyen Tieu, or the Lantern Festival.

in Culture

The Story of Ông Táo, the Kitchen God Who Rides a Carp to Heaven

This evening, as Saigoneers continue their many Tet preparations and young revellers head out for a night on the town, Ong Tao is packing his bags for his annual trip to heaven.

Brian Letwin

in Saigon

The Story of Tan Son Nhat Airport

As the plan for Saigon's massive Long Thanh Airport moves forward (despite some objections), we thought we'd take a minute to look back at the long history of old standby, Tan Son Nhat.